Amazon, Circuit City Cut Pick-Up Deal

Circuit City and Amazon.com have added an in-store pick-up option to their joint online offering that allows cyber shoppers to purchase consumer electronics on Amazon and retrieve them at the nearest Circuit City store.

The service, which is one of the fruits of a multiyear pact signed in August, could help cut the e-tailer's inventory and fulfillment costs, while generating increased traffic and possible add-on sales for the CE chain.

The additional fulfillment option, which has been a hallmark of Circuit City's own e-commerce site, is initially limited to products that are carried by both partners. Short term, the several thousand items that are carried by Circuit City but not by Amazon will be available for in-store pickup only, although the CE chain will add its own direct ship option on select items early next year. Merchandise available at Amazon but not at Circuit City will be shipped by Amazon.

Shoppers can view which items are available for in-store pickup by accessing www.amazon.com/pickup. A new Amazon in-store pickup "boutique" is available by typing "circuit city" in the product search navigation tool on Amazon's home page.

The partnership, which is non-exclusive, increases Amazon's CE offering by several thousand products thanks to Circuit City's larger online assortment of vendor-sanctioned goods. Under terms of the deal, Circuit City pays Amazon a percentage for any Circuit City inventory sold through the site, and handles fulfillment, product-related customer service and returns. Amazon will process the transactions.